hall have no prospect but that of
starvation upon these barren rocks--a death which will probably be
anticipated by the explosion of the island."

"In that case," replied Pencroft, folding his arms and stamping his
foot, "what's the use of working any longer on the vessel?"

"Pencroft," answered Cyrus Harding, "we must do our duty to the last!"

At this instant the river of lava, after having broken a passage through
the noble trees it devoured in its course, reached the borders of the
lake. At this point there was an elevation of the soil which, had it
been greater, might have sufficed to arrest the torrent.

"To work!" cried Cyrus Harding.

The engineer's thought was at once understood. It might be possible to
dam, as it were, the torrent, and thus compel it to pour itself into the
lake.

The colonists hastened to the dockyard. They returned with shovels,
picks, axes, and by means of banking the earth with the aid of fallen
trees they succeeded in a few hours in raising an embankment three feet
high and some hundreds of paces in length. It seemed to them, when they
had finished, as if they had scarcely been working more than a few
minutes.

It was not a moment too soon. The liquefied substances soon after
reached the bottom of the barrier. The stream of lava swelled like a
river about to overflow its banks, and threatened to demolish the sole
obstacle which could prevent it from overrunning the whole Far West.
But the dam held firm, and after a moment of terrible suspense the
torrent precipitated itself into Grant Lake from a height of twenty
feet.

The colonists, without moving or uttering a word, breathlessly regarded
this strife of the two elements.

What a spectacle was this conflict between water and fire! What pen
could describe the marvellous horror of this scene--what pencil could
depict it? The water hissed as it evaporated by contact with the
boiling lava. The vapour whirled in the air to an immeasurable height,
as if the valves of an immense boiler had been suddenly opened. But,
however considerable might be the volume of water contained in the lake,
it must eventually be absorbed, because it was not replenished, whilst
the stream of lava, fed from an inexhaustible source, rolled on without
ceasing new waves of incandescent matter.

The first waves of lava which fell in the lake immediately solidified,
and accumulated so as speedily to emerge from it. Upon their surface
fell other wa